I found something sort of cool that I thought worth sharing in this weekend’s (belated) Open Thread. Pretending that you haven’t already seen the headline above, see if you can figure out what it is.

Can you find your dot? (It’s easier if you live in the canyons than in Santa Ana.)

It’s (most of) Orange County, with the top tilted about 45 degrees to the left so that I-5 and the shoreline look more or less horizontal. But it may be unlike any map you’ve seen — like Soylent Green, it’s made of people. And it’s not the entire map — the entire map from which I extracted this includes every person in the U.S. and Canada, based on the most recent census census. Zooming out at far as possible, and leaving out anything north of Calgary, east of the Canadian Maritime Islands, and west of Washington’s San Juan Islands, it looks like this:

Territories not included.

Sure, you’ve probably seen a population map before. But this one’s different: it zooms in. A whole lot. I gave South County short shrift before, so here’s maximum magnification (with a true north orientation) of San Clemente. (The white diagonal stripe is, I presume, I-5.) Some readers might, quite seriously, be able to find their own dots.

(OJB apologizes for the inclusion of a portion of northern San Diego County.)

And you can do this for all of North America north of the Rio Grande. As the author writes: “The map presents one dot for every person counted by the 2010 US and 2011 Canadian censuses.” In case you’ve lost count, that’s 341,817,095 dots.

This amazing time-sink can be found at this website. The map is the work of Brandon Martin-Anderson, based on block level data. He wanted “an image of human settlement patterns unmediated by proxies like city boundaries, arterial roads, state lines, &c.” Yes, it was computerized; he wrote the script and a friend provided extra server capacity. You can read more at the link.

Talk about this or talk about something else, as you please. This is 2013’s first Weekend Open Thread.

About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose worker's rights and government accountability attorney, residing in northwest Brea. General Counsel of CATER, the Coalition of Anaheim Taxpayers for Economic Responsibility, a non-partisan group of people sick of local corruption.
Deposed as Northern Vice Chair of DPOC in April 2014 when his anti-corruption and pro-consumer work in Anaheim infuriated the Building Trades and Teamsters in spring 2014, who then worked with the lawless and power-mad DPOC Chair to eliminate his internal oversight.
Occasionally runs for office to challenge some nasty incumbent who would otherwise run unopposed. (Someday he might pick a fight with the intent to win rather than just dent someone. You'll know it when you see it.) He got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012 and in 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002.
None of his pre-putsch writings ever spoke for the Democratic Party at the local, county, state, national, or galactic level, nor do they now.
A family member co-owns a business offering campaign treasurer services to Democratic candidates and the odd independent. He is very proud of her. He doesn't directly profit from her work and it doesn't affect his coverage. (He does not always favor her clients, though she might hesitate to take one that he truly hated.)
He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.)

[Disneyland wants people to spread the word to friends and colleagues — and what are all of you if not colleagues? Since we wrote about Kalogridis a bit last year, this seems worth noting.]

Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Tom Staggs today announced key leadership changes across one of the world’s leading providers of family travel and leisure experiences to better position the organization for growth. Effective Feb. 1, Meg Crofton will fully assume her global role as president, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Operations, U.S. and France — a position she has held since July 2011 — while concurrently serving as president of Walt Disney World. With Meg’s transition complete, George A. Kalogridis is named president of the Walt Disney World Resort, and Michael Colglazier is named president of the Disneyland Resort. Both Kalogridis’ and Colglazier’s roles also are effective Feb. 1.

“With all that we currently have in flight across our resort destinations in the U.S. and France, the time is right to move forward with this leadership transition,” said Staggs. “This group of Disney veterans has the knowledge and expertise needed to continue delivering on our legacy of creating unforgettable experiences that our guests have come to know and expect.”

Colglazier brings longtime, multifaceted Disney experience to Anaheim

Colglazier’s Disney career spans more than two decades across several areas of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, including Operations, Global Development, Disney Photo Imaging, Operations Strategy and Technology and Strategic Planning. For the last several years, Colglazier has served as head of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, where he has been instrumental in the planning and development of an Avatar-themed land. In prior leadership positions, he oversaw the creation and growth of Disney’s PhotoPass program and helped re-energize Innoventions at both Disneyland and Epcot through strategic partnerships.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Disneyland Resort and serve as a steward of both its heritage and its continued growth,” said Colglazier. “I am excited to work with the resort’s 25,000 Cast Members as we continue to carry out Walt Disney’s legacy of creating lasting memories for our guests, and I look forward to partnering with Anaheim and Orange County’s community and business leaders to ensure the continued economic vitality of our community and region. My family is just as excited as I am – and we all look forward to becoming part of the Disneyland family and Orange County community.”

Kalogridis Returns to Central Florida

George A. Kalogridis, who has served as Disneyland Resort president since 2009, is no stranger to Central Florida. Not only did he graduate from the University of Central Florida, but he began his four-decade career with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in 1971 as a busboy at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Since that time, he’s held numerous roles at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort and Disneyland Resort Paris.

“It has been a true privilege to serve as president of the Disneyland Resort and to lead the team that successfully opened one of the largest expansions in the resort’s history,” said Kalogridis. “I’m incredibly proud of all that we’ve accomplished during my tenure and know Michael and the Disneyland team will continue to build on the resort’s success and legacy for years to come.”

“I am excited to return to my roots and have the opportunity to lead our talented Walt Disney World Resort Cast. Throughout my 40-plus-year tenure, Disney has given me amazing opportunities to prepare me for this next chapter in my career. I look forward to again working with my Florida-based colleagues and reconnecting with Orlando’s community and business leaders,” added Kalogridis.

Added Staggs, “I wish George and Michael the best of luck in their new roles. They both bring a wealth of operational expertise, leadership and passion to these roles, which will contribute to the success of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.”